with increase in number of dealerships across country and increasing awareness and most importantly --some amount of advertisement, they can go somewhere near to their target.

but to actually achieve their target, what is required is-- a somewhat lower capacity bike than existing line-up and significantly cheaper than current models on sale.

Another article tells us how exactly (they think) they will achieve the target of ten fold sales jump by 2016.

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After opening its dealership in all metro cities, iconic US-based motorcycle maker Harley Davidson is now targeting smaller cities and towns to drive an annual growth rate of 25 per cent in India.

"The next step will be the tier-II and tier-III cities and towns. We need to expand there as there is a lot of demand in places like Bhubaneswar, Raipur, etc," Harley Davidson India managing director Anoop Prakash said.

As part of its strategic dealership expansion drive across the country, the company on Sunday opened its dealership in Kolkata, the first in eastern India. Besides other metros, the company already has dealerships in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chandigarh. "By the end of this year, we will be in Kochi and Goa too. Later on, we might go to Jaipur and Bhubaneswar as well," Prakash said.

With more than a thousand Harley Davidson bikes on Indian roads now after the company started their India operations in 2010, he said the company has a 40 per cent market share in the premium bike segment in the country.

"In the next five years, a year-on-year growth of 25-30 per cent looks sustainable," he said.

Famed for its distinctive designs the world over, Davidson produces premium heavyweight custom, cruiser, and touring motorcycles.

The base model starts at Rs 5.60 lakh. To develop biking culture in India, the management has also set up the Harley Owners' Group in many cities, where the bike owners plan weekend or overnight trips with families riding their Harley Davidsons. They offer 16 models, including the popular Dyna-frame motorcycles.


Source: After tasting initial success, Harley to drive into smaller Indian towns

I wish they start manufacturing here rather than just assembly. Maybe engine they can import. But others, I think they can manufacture here itself. That will bring down the costs even more and meet this target 10 times over!

An Interview.

"" Most of our customers are upgrading from Royal Enfield "":- Anoop Prakash said in an interview to BS Motoring.

After the famous Indo-US “Harley for Indian mango” deal in 2007, the American icon Harley-Davidson announced its entry through a wholly owned subsidiary — Harley-Davidson Motor Company India. Following an extensive study of the market, the iconic brand finally hit the Indian roads in July 2010. Anoop Prakash, who is spearheading the Indian operation of the company, tells Probal Basak (BS Motoring Staff) the 18-month journey has been “more than satisfying”. Clocking in sales of more than 1,000 units so far, the company is keen on assembling more (motorbike) models at its India factory at Bawal to drive volumes. Edited excerpts:

When Harley-Davidson made its entry to India, you said it was not a part of the brand-building exercise. You want to be a serious player in the market. How do you evaluate the company’s journey in India so far?
We are more than satisfied with our journey. We could not ask for more. When we thought about opening this market, we knew we are going to build and serve a whole new market segment. This is actually the first market where we entered with a wholly owned subsidiary. We have set up an assembly plant at Bawal in Haryana. All these are strong indicators of how serious and ambitious we are about the Indian market.
Although we entered the market in 2009, we opened the first showroom in 2010. From July 2010 to end of December 2011 — in the 18-month period — there are over 1,000 bikes on Indian roads.

Where do you see the numbers in the coming years?
This year also, we will hopefully cross 1,000. We are looking at a 25-30 per cent yearly growth for the next five-seven years.
We will be extending our footprint by the time. We have opened our eighth dealership in Kolkata.We will open in Kochi and Goa this year, as well. We also have our eyes on Nagpur. We are finding out where we can find our customer. I have a feeling some of North-Eastern cities can be our destinations, as people in this part of the country have a great passion for biking. We have a target of having a 17 to 20 dealership by the end of 2015.

How important was it to have an assembling plant to drive volumes?
As of now, we have five assembling models and 11 CBUs (completely-built units). Moving the price down through CKD (complete knock-down) was important for us. The price of an 800cc bike model that sold at nearly Rs 7 lakh when it was imported, came down to Rs 5.6 lakh after it was assembled locally. In fact, our CKD line-up is driving 70 per cent of our volumes.

So, are you looking at assembling more models at the Bawal plant?
We will start assembling another Dyna model this year, taking the total number of CKDs to six.
We have ample capacity for assembling more units at our plant. We are trying to get customer feedback and find out which models are in demand. Right now, we are focused on assembling Sportster and Dyna models. Of the five CKDs, three are from the Dyna range and two from Sportster. There are three-four more bikes in Dyna and Sportster family itself, which are not on offer in India yet. So, there is obviously scope for assembling more units.

Is the increased tariff or negative market sentiment affecting your growth?
There was a lot of uncertainty whether or not the tariff would make the investment worth it, as the motorcycles are effectively going to cost twice as much as in the US. Harley-Davidson’s bikes in India are priced between Rs 5.6 lakh and Rs 35 lakh.
Moving down the price point through CKD has helped us to some extent. And, despite an increased tax in the recent Budget and not that great a market sentiment, the demand of Harley remains unaffected. At the end of the day, we are able to reach out to our customer that Harley is not a product, it is a lifestyle.

Do you have any intention to go below 800cc for India-specific products? Are not Indian players like Royal Enfield that offer 500cc bikes with a much affordable price range better positioned for the Indian super bike segment?
We can not go below 800cc. We cannot have an India-specific product. All our products are for global markets. And, regarding Royal Enfield, I think it is a great compliment for us, rather than a competition. Most of our customers are upgrading from Royal Enfield. For me, competition is if somebody is doing something else on a Sunday morning because I want him to experience Harley Davidson during that time.

I like this part the most. Personally, it's really good to read that Harley do not have plans to move below 800cc, and they should not. Not everyone has to design and make India centric motorcycles to get numbers. Whether a person likes Harley or not, it is more than just a motorcycle manufacturer, it is also about a lifestyle, a statement. It's hard to imagine any other cruiser in the world that carries a bigger attitude than a Harley. And in my opinion, an RE is far from giving any sort of competition to the American giant. It isn't even worth giving a thought in this context!

a harley with am engine somewhere around 500 CC and price around 3 lakhs will not be a bad idea--either for customers or the company, both will benifit, customer will get a cheaper option and company gets the numbers it wants.

^^^ Similar to how a Ducati cannot be spotted doing a smaller bike, same applies for the Harleys. Its in their bloodline to be big, mean and loud.

I agree with Brat and Sattelite.kid. A 500cc won't be that different from 883cc's when you start producing them, costwise. Not to mention a lot of R&D is required, and that increases costs too.

In fact, I doubt there would be any benefit. Hardcore Hogs will hate the factory, and the bike itself won't set any new performance benchmarks.

My opinion's the same: Get the Sportster 883 cheaper somehow or other. Or have an India specific model, somewhat a proper cruiser, like Avenger or senior HD's, with the 883 engine though, and it should rock!

the idea of a lesser CC machine was to reduce costs, if it can be achieved and made cheaper without reducing the CC, its even better, who doesn't like to ride a powerful and cheap bike...but is it possible, and what will be its aftereffects ...will it not annoy the existing and future customers of other expensive harleys....

imagine me riding a cheaper harley with same engine producing similar power, torque and thump as your much costlier harley...what will i say to you.."so what if my bike has lesser chrome, it is a harley with same engine, and same noise...same character"

and developing an india specific model will also incur R&D costs..

Desirability is an interesting feeling! A person would want certain manufacturers to produce something that he/she can buy and maintain and not burn a hole in their pocket, but for some other manufacturers he wouldn't really care at the same time. Try to look at it from the company's point of view also sometimes, the guy says that all their models are global models and they will not design/create any motorcycle for a particular market like our's. And it's pretty fine if they work like this, it helps in maintaining a certain standard for their motorcycle line up. Due to this philosophy of Harley, we should also understand what type of market they are targeting in India. Unlike the jap 4, they aren't here to please maximum number of people while also selling niche motorcycles, Harley is only interested in maintaining and targeting specific clientele. And this is absolutely fine as, repeating again, they are much more than just a motorcycle company. A person buys a Harley and becomes a part of a heritage. And this is not trash talk. Companies like Harley, Ducati and MV have among the most desirable motorcycles because they stand out from their contemporaries and have that oomph factor that is missing in companies that make similar type of motorcycles. May be we can conclude that to maintain that oomph, that exclusivity and uniqueness they just can't go below a certain line. Well may be they can, may be they cannot. But the thing is, they will not! And that is perfectly fine by me.

Exclusivity is a hard thing to come by these days, and if a brand wants to maintain a niche customer base, it needs to do what it needs to do. The desirability quotient is sustained and that is what works for them. Im totally against such brands launching smaller versions ending up diluting the brand value

Totally agree with Srini. Every brand has a certain value and to take risk with the brand value for numbers is not good for a company like Harley. Its a premium brand and should remain one.

Harley Davidson to setup manufacturing plant in India



NEW DELHI: The road starts here, it never ends, is one of Harley Davidson's memorable slogans that is immensely apt for the American bikemaker's plans for the Indian market. After a fairly successful period of selling assembled bikes, the cult bikemaker now plans to set up a manufacturing plant in India with the aim of making its expensive superbikes more accessible to consumers by localising production.

The company sold 716 bikes in the last fiscal and averaging around 100 units per month this year, but it is facing increasing competition from new entrants such as BMW, Kawasaki, KTM and Hyosung. Cheaper superbikes in the market such as the Hyosung GT250R, priced at Rs 2.75 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi), and Kawasaki Ninja 250 and Honda CBR250R - also in similar price band - have been eating into Harley's volumes in the entry-level superbike segment.

According to key officials in the company, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, a Harley Davidson team from the US has been doing rounds of preliminary assessment and scouting around for the right location for a manufacturing facility in India. "These initiatives are at a very early stage. The new plant has been planned as the Indian market has shown explosive growth in superbikes in the past few years, albeit on a comparatively smaller base," an official said.

Harley has a completely knocked-down (CKD) assembly plant at Bawal in Haryana, about 100 km from New Delhi. India is the only country after Brazil where Harley has a CKD unit for assembling kits supplied from the US. Assembling bikes has helped the hot-rod maker circumvent high import tariffs and lower prices on its motorcycles in India by an estimated 20-25 per cent in 2011. The Harley range starts from Rs 5.60 lakh with the superlow model and goes up to Rs 35.45 lakh for the Ultra Classic Electra Glide marquee brand.

Now, the company is planning to go for localisation for entry-level models that will allow it to compete with Japanese and European bikemakers who also have lined up similar plans. A new plant will enable Harley to expand its presence in the world's second-largest motorcycle market.

A Harley Davidson executive in India did not confirm the plans. "We currently do not have plans to set up another plant in India. As part of its global growth strategy, Harley-Davidson is highly focused on the ramp-up of CKD operations in India as it allows us to improve our market responsiveness and production flexibility while reducing the tariff burden," Sanjay Tripathi marketing director of the company said.


Source: Harley Davidson to setup manufacturing plant in India - The Economic Times